I came across this post by Marcos Sliva and it took me a while to comprehend the procedure of separating the grill fabric cover and the main chassis. It did help me to take apart the my unit and I thought I could help to expand on his post.
The grill cover wraps around the main chassis and it is inclusive of the brushed metal piece on top, the main chassis is everything else beneath. As Marcos Sliva post, begin by removing the rubber feet surrounding the unit.
Next find something similar to guitar pick and insert in between the catch holding the grill fabric cover and the main chassis. There are a total of 4 catches located in front and back of the unit. Then place the unit front side facing down, it would help with the next step.
[image|2069196]
[image|2069195]
Find flat wide sturdy tool ( I used a metal ruler) that can slot in between the fabric cover and main chassis, the position is located above the bass port(hole). With the tool in place, turn clockwise or whichever way to separate the cover from the main chassis. Move along the seam and gradually separate the two parts taking copious care not tear the delicate fabric cover. 2 parts can be separated easily when gap is sufficient to use fingers , taking care to disconnect the ribbon cables.
[image|2069201]
My unit was experiencing some issues before it failed to power on. Previously, the unit will connect to WiFi for 20 ~ 40 minutes upon insertion of power cord, afterwards Airplay will not work and/or the purple light will flash. Airplay still works by connecting the unit to WiFi router via LAN cable and power cycle the unit by removal and reinsertion of the power cord.
Unit died few days ago and disassembly of the was done with help from initial post by Marcos (Big thanks!). Upon closer examination, it was found that a number of filter capacitors had high ESR. The original electrolytic capacitors were from Su’scon and have been in service for 7 years and was replaced accordingly. Unit is now back to full functional status.
List of capacitors replaced on the PSU board, i suspect that A7 shares the same PSU as the Zeppelin due to its elliptical shape.
* 3 x 1500uF 10V
* 1 x 100uF 35V
* 1 x 22uF 50V
* 6 x 100UF 16V
* 6 x 220uF 25V
The SMD capacitor located on the WiFi board also exhibited high ESR and was replaced. It is the only SMD electrolytic capacitor on the WiFi board
SMD Capacitor marking
100A
WZ
* Nichicon WZ series 100uF 10V